Race Picks (the last season?), Uncle Max vs. The Points Leader: WATKINS GLEN

It’s time for Nascar’s annual trip to Watkins Glen, which always reminds me of my childhood annual trip to the mountains.  Well, kinda.

You see, my folks never took me to a resort or a camping site.  Instead, we went to a motor lodge (never call it a “motel” when my dad was within earshot) and would spend the week driving around, enjoying the pool, and going to some oddball local restaurants.

While I don’t have any kids of my own, I think it would be nice if I did to take them back up there.  Of course for all I know that motor lodge is a vacant former Rite Aid now.  Still, its nice to have memories of desperately trying to adjust rabbit ears to get in a baseball game on tv.

TRUCK SERIES (4 wins) Mission 176 at the Glen (Friday 5pm ET on FS1) CONNOR ZILICH—a last minute sub, but he’s great on road courses.

XFINITY SERIES (2 win) Mission 200 at the Glen (Saturday 3pm ET on CW) SHELDON CREED—two straight wins for LMC—er, I mean, Haas Factory Team.

CUP SERIES Go Bowling at the Glen (Sunday 2pm ET on USA) Points Leader picks WILLIAM BYRON.  Favorite (2 wins): CHASE ELLIOTT—he needs to STRIKE while the iron is hot.  Next Favorite (5 wins): TYLER REDDICK—a win will SPARE him some stress for the playoffs.  Dark Horse (1 win): AJ ALLMENDINGER—even though on ovals he’s usually in the GUTTER.

www.spaderacing.com updated four times weekly

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Spade Racing Opens Six 2017 Donruss Racing Packs: 6 of 6

Here’s my latest haul—a “blaster box” containing six ten packs of 2017 Donruss Racing cards.  So join me as I take a look back about eight years ago with some cost-effective card packs

Pack 6 of 6: Young Chastain, trivia pain, and the fast lane

First Look: Young Ross Chastain, before he got his big break and made more than the most of it.  Here’s hoping he wasn’t carrying around a watermelon back then—it would’ve gotten pretty moldy.

To the Back: I love how someone at Panini had to look up the career of Jimmy Insolo because of this copy.  Heck, his own Wikipedia page barely mentions him.

Say What: “So you said I’ll be broadcasting in the future?  On what channel?  Wait…what?”

Final Rating: 7 post race photo ops out of 10

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Spade Racing’s Stars in Unusual Cars: Kasey Kahne

Kasey Kahne’s stop-gap stint at Red Bull Racing (2010-11)

Join me throughout this year as I take a look at when some of the sport’s biggest stars drove some unusual cars! (Presented in no particular order).

Why? Kasey Kahne, having raced in the 9 car under three different ownership regimes, received his release from the operation late in the 2010 season.  Although he was able to sign with Hendrick Motorsports for 2012, he needed a ride for the rest of 2010 and all of 2011.  Enter Team Red Bull, who had experienced little success since its inception. 

How successful were they? Kahne would post the organization’s second-ever win in 2011 in the penultimate race of the year.  This capped an amazing run of five top-fives in seven races, elevating him to fourteenth in points at season’s end.

What was the aftermath? As expected, the Red Bull team shut down following the 2011 finale, disappointed with the team’s on-track performance and off-track impact on sales.  Kahne finished a career-best fourth in points in 2012 for Hendrick Motorsports, but would post only above-average results before health issues ended his career in 2018.

Ranking on the Strange-O-Meter? 8 Allstate commercials out of 10—it took a lot of guts for Kasey to leave the only team he’d driven for in Cup for what was essentially a mid-pack team looking to fold.  Also, it allowed him to race for four different manufacturers in four years.

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Perks of Denny Hamlin’s New Contract with JGR

Recently Joe Gibbs Racing announced a contract extension with driver Denny Hamlin.  Here’s some of the details from the new agreement:

—Preferred parking space at JGR race shop, specifically between Joe Gibbs’s parking space and the guy who plans out Joe Gibbs’s polo shirts’ parking space.

—Allowance to say “Christopher Bell, yer a Ding-Dong!” twice per year.

—$500 gift card to Bob’s Disposable Furniture store of his choice.

—Use of three of JGR’s reserve engineers to fix the dozens of 23XI cars wrecked by Riley Herbst.

—Automatic 1st overall pick in the JGR Fantasy Football Draft on August 31st.

—Free use of the old JGR logo instead of the current “someone actually designed this on purpose” logo.

—Allowed to ignore Ty Gibbs on the weekday of his choosing.

www.spaderacing.com updated four times weekly

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Visit the store https://www.cafepress.com/spaderacing

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Race Picks (the last season?), Uncle Max vs. The Points Leader: IOWA

So I’ve noticed people mocking the upcoming Speedway Classic baseball game from Bristol, and I have one question to them:

Why?

Who cares if a game is happening somewhere where 90% of the crowd won’t be able to see the action up-close?  Don’t you think the fans know this?  It’s a happening—people want to be there to set the attendance record, not to observe a random mid-season baseball game with a trained eye.

I’m sorry, I’m just a little punchy lately, the air conditioning unit at my work isn’t working too well.

TRUCK SERIES (4 wins) off 

XFINITY SERIES (2 win) Hy-Vee Perks 250 (Saturday 4:30pm ET on CW) CONNOR ZILICH—Ridin’ with the Z-man.

CUP SERIES Iowa Corn 350 (Sunday 3:30pm ET on USA) Points Leader picks CHASE ELLIOTT.  Favorite (2 wins): DENNY HAMLIN—this IS a short track, after all.  Next Favorite (4 wins): WILLIAM BYRON—I finally get to pick him again.  Dark Horse (1 win): DANIEL SUAREZ—just because.

www.spaderacing.com updated four times weekly

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Visit the store https://www.cafepress.com/spaderacing

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Spade Racing Opens Six 2017 Donruss Racing Packs: 5 of 6

Here’s my latest haul—a “blaster box” containing six ten packs of 2017 Donruss Racing cards.  So join me as I take a look back about eight years ago with some cost-effective card packs

Pack 5 of 6: Rubber, dumber, and a bummer

First Look: And here it is, the one (on average) special card for this blaster box—a piece of Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s tire!

To the Back: Um, Clint, I can think of plenty of Nascar-centric movies better than Days of Thunder.  Hell, Stroker Ace was better!

Say What: “How long till my next win?  SIX YEARS?!?”

Final Rating: 9 overtimes out of 10

www.spaderacing.com updated four times weekly

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Buy the book 100 Stock Car Racing What Ifs Unauthorized

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Spade Racing’s Stars in Unusual Cars: Geoff(rey) Bodine

Geoffrey Bodine leaves his own team to run for Joe Bessey (1999-2000)

Join me throughout this year as I take a look at when some of the sport’s biggest stars drove some unusual cars! (Presented in no particular order).

Courtesy The Tennessean

Why? Sponsorship issues forced Geoff Bodine to sell controlling interest in his race team for 1998.  Following that season, Bodine sold the rest of his shares in order to run for Busch North owner/driver Joe Bessey, who was moving up to Cup with sponsorship from PECO Powerteam. 

How successful were they? A third-place finish at the second Martinsville race was the lone highlight of 1999.  2000 was over before it began, as Bodine nearly perished in his horrifying Daytona Truck Series crash, causing him to miss the next nine races.  Disappointing results when he returned would see Bodine released in the fall.

What was the aftermath? Bodine (now going by Geoffrey) would only run a handful of Cup races for the rest of his career, while Bessey’s team would leave Cup following the 2000 season.

Ranking on the Strange-O-Meter? 4 typo-filled books out of 10—this was just part of the long, drawn-out end of Bodine’s career.

www.spaderacing.com updated four times weekly

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The Fourth Crown Jewel Race—What Is It?

Nascar has long had three “crown jewel” races—the Daytona 500 (richest), the World/Coke 600 (longest), and the Southern 500 (oldest).  When the Winston Million came along, the Winston 500 at Talladega was added as a fourth crown jewel race, mostly because, well, Winston sponsored it.  I doubt anyone would consider a random spring drafting track race a “crown jewel” today.

But if not, then what is?

Here’s a list of candidates for what the modern fourth “crown jewel” race would be:

BRICKYARD 400

Pros: Held at the world’s most-famous speedway, held at the world’s greatest-capacity enclosed sporting venue, is almost always a major celebration when someone wins it.

Cons: About as exciting as watching paint dry, about as much passing as an early-00’s F1 race, most of the fans come dressed as empty seats.

BRISTOL NIGHT RACE

Pros: One of the highest-attended races every year, endless highlights, “The Last Great Coliseum”

Cons: By “endless” highlights I mean they ended with the repave, track is kind of in the middle of freaking nowhere, no need to push Michael Buffer’s appearance fee even higher.

NASCAR CUP SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP RACE

Pros: The most-important race of the year by default, actually airs on network TV, winner-take-all most of the time.

Cons: Its literally called the “Nascar Cup Series Championship Race”, race is near-meaningless for the non-championship drivers, five minute post-race due to Sunday Night Football pre-show.

www.spaderacing.com updated four times weekly

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Race Picks (the last season?), Uncle Max vs. The Points Leader: INDY

Indy and Indy.  One’s an exciting track for stock cars, and one’s…well, it’s a great place for IndyCars.  But it just goes to show you how the track, similar to a playing field in other sports, can affect the enjoyment of the event.

It reminds me of when I was in college and I went to Veterans Stadium in Philly for the first—and only—time.  The place was just a giant concrete bowl, and since it was a Phillies game, it was a sold-out crowd with 80% of the fans dressed as empty seats.

But what made it even worse was that dreaded Astroturf.  Look—I like stolen bases as much as the next guy, but seeing baseball played on it was just so…unnatural.  On the plus side I got to see a Phillies fan yelling at a Mets fan for three innings, so at least I was entertained.

TRUCK SERIES (4 wins) TSport 200 (Friday 8pm on FS1) DANIEL HEMRIC—Kinda wish Xfinity ran here too, not gonna lie.

XFINITY SERIES (1 win) Pennzoil 250 (Saturday 4:30pm ET on CW) CONNOR ZILICH—Hopefully no rain this time.

CUP SERIES Brickyard 400 (Sunday 2pm ET on TNT) Points Leader picks WILLIAM BYRON.  Favorite (2 wins): DENNY HAMLIN—heating up in the heat…hey, that makes sense.  Next Favorite (4 wins): RYAN BLANEY—home race for The Captain.  Dark Horse (1 win): TY GIBBS—he has to get a win eventually, right?  RIGHT?!?

www.spaderacing.com updated four times weekly

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Visit the store https://www.cafepress.com/spaderacing

Buy the book 100 Stock Car Racing What Ifs Unauthorized

Does this track have lights?

A MOXOC Media production

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